Category Archives: Emotions

I wanted to take a moment to highlight a FABULOUS, must-have app for both iOS and Android platforms to go with the curriculum, The Zones of Regulation! The Zones of Regulation (2011 Social Thinking Publishing), written by OTR, Leah Kuypers is one of the very best resources I have found to work with students on emotional regulation. The tools in this resource weave together concepts of Social Thinking (Michelle Garcia Winner – www.socialthinking.com), the Incredible 5 Point Scale (Kari Dunn-Buron & Mitzi Curtis – www.5pointscale.com), and elements of sensory integration, into a comprehensive program to teach emotional regulation to students. Using a cognitive behavioral approach, students are able to learn to categorize their emotions and levels of alertness into 4 colored “Zones”. Now, there is a mobile App to use to continue to reinforce skills learned!

The app was released last week and has an unbelievable price point of $4.99 as of the date of this blog post. This app has it ALL! Throughout the app, students of all ages learn to tools to manage different feelings in each Zone, individualized “triggers” for particular Zones, and problem solving skills. The app layout is a fun, interactive game to engage kids – teaching moments are interwoven throughout a game-interface where players can earn achievements, coins to earn extra “powers” or clothing for their characters, and challenges. This week, I used it with a very “spirited” group of six 2nd and 3rd grade students under the Autism Spectrum umbrella, and this app has kept them engaged for daily social skills group 5 days this week! This group can be a tough sell – but they have been excited to come back to group the next day!